Did you vote for Obama?

[snarkykitty]

Like a friend of mine always says, he walked into a disaster,you cannot expect him to clean up 8 years worth of shit overnight. :whistle:

:clap:

[HowRude]

Yes I felt it was the best idea at the time I'm it was either him or John Mccain whose ticket I did not like.

[Grace]

I did. I knew I probably would be when he gave his speech at the Convention in '04. But I was definitely torn between him and Hilary. When she ran for Senate I said that if she ever ran for President I would drop whatever job I had and go work her campaign in whatever capacity I could. Sadly, by the time that run came around I no longer had that much faith in her or the energy I had as a Freshman in college, haha. I was torn between her and Obama. If McCain had won the Republican primary in 2000 instead of GWB I would have voted for him instead of Al Gore. Don't get me wrong, I like Al. But I think he's a better activist than presidential candidate. I was on my campus's Howard Dean student group instead. Then McCain ran again in 08 and I was like "What the What?" My opinion is that JM has some form of dementia. All those time that he kept denying that his campaign had said certain things when there was proof that they had? I think he actually believed what he was saying. He really didn't have any memory of it.

ETA--I really wish Ron Paul had a chance in Hades of getting a nomination and making a successful run. I think my husband is turning me into a Libertarian...

[nuri]

I did, and I will again. My brothers believe he is a flaming liberal, and I think he's a bit too conservative, but better than any of the running alternatives. I would have voted for Ms Clinton as well-- even though some of her positions unsettle me.

I do however, wish I lived in Vermont and could vote for real, viable socialist, Bernie Sanders. Ain't perfect, but his views are closer in line to my own. Then my brother could call me a socialist and actually mean it.

[ElphabaGalinda]

If I was American I would have, because although he isn't perfect (who is?), he's far more appealing to me than any of the other options. Though I think I would have voted for Hillary over him, I love her. As a Canadian, I am happy to say that I did not vote for Stephen Harper twice.

[Austin]

:clap:

This X 1000. The man is not a magician, and he only controls one branch of government. People either didn't know what kind of shape the USA was in, or they have conveniently forgotten.

Yes, I voted for him and I campaigned like crazy for him and will again.

I actually supported Hillary in the primary, mostly because I didn't know much about Obama at the time. But I DO NOT BELIEVE that Hillary would have made a better president in retrospect. I have read numerous books on the 2008 campaign (not books that were intended to in any way be critical of Hillary Clinton, just about the election and all the candidates), as well as her own autobiography, and Hillary has some leadership issues.

Her campaign, if anyone recalls or has the intense interest that this political junkie does, was a total mess. Just a maelstrom of confusion, lack of focus, and interpersonal problems. She keeps hangers-on around that she feels weird loyalties to at the expense of people who can get the job done for her. She hates confrontation and pretty much just won't deal with it. She does not handle people well from a management perspective. That is not to say she is not extremely talented in other areas, but I believe this would not fly in the position of president. Obama's campaign was known as "No-Drama Obama" and during the campaign, I thought that was just a cute little thing that people said. After looking at it more deeply after the election, it was truly how he led, with rare exceptions.

I like Hillary Clinton a lot, and would have loved to see the first woman president elected in my lifetime (hopefully I still will, but not one of the BSC GOP women who seem to be running), but I feel she is much better suited to the position she has, which isn't exactly chump change.

And btw, Hillary is no left-leaning liberal, either. She is no more to the left than Obama is. I would recommend her autobiography - I enjoyed it tremendously.

[Guest Anonymous]

I did not because I wasn't old enough, but I will in the upcoming election.

To quote Julie

Like someone else said, if there's a choice between a conservative and a liberal, I'm going to vote liberal every single time. I love myself and you all too much to vote for a conservative.

I also agree with others who say he isn't liberal enough. He is giving way too much to congress and doesn't seem to be notice they aren't giving at all.

I'm legitimately terrified of most of the GOP frontrunners.

[desertvixen]

I voted for him (although I would rather have voted for Hillary) and likely would again.

I just can't agree with too many ideas on the other side. It's okay for politicians to regulate my uterus, my reproductive rights, to make my health a political football, but not okay to regulate business a little better? Um, not in my book it's not.

Also, I LOVE (only, not) how suddenly everything that was just peachy fine when W was in gets painted with the evil brush.

And specific to my line of work, how come suddenly now that the guy in the White House is NOT a Republican, it's all right for military members to be disrespectful? That irritates me in a hurry.

[Letgo]

Did not vote for Obama and will not vote for him in 2012. I am fairly conservative so I have no idea what I will do if Palin runs. I could never vote for her. Rubs me the wrong way. There really isn't anyone in either party I can think of right now who would be a good choice. I just can't believe that next fall is another election. Time sure flies. And lots can happen between now and then!

[doubtingkimmy]

I did vote for Obama, and I will be voting for him again. Although I was a strong Hillary backer, when she did not win the primary, I found Obama to be an equally strong candidate, and was proud to give him my support.

Although I don't support all of his stances, and like many of the folks who posted above, wish he were more liberal, I just can't even consider voting for any of the slate of candidates put forward by the GOP thus far. I am in no way a conspiracy theorist, but in looking at what the GOP put out there as presidential candidates both in the 2008 election and thus far for 2012, I'm tempted to think that things are just so bad with the economy and the never-ending wars that the GOP is "throwing" the elections and are waiting for better times before putting forward the cream of their crop. If not, the GOP is seriously in some dire straights if these clowns are the best that they can do for the office of president.

I just hope that, should he win a second term, Mr. Obama will stop trying so hard to "reach across the aisle." The GOP has never worked with him in good faith, and I think that it's particularly clear now, with an unbelievable default pending, that they never will. They seem to have no answers other than to say no to any taxes on the uber-wealthy or corporations and to do whatever they can to make the president look bad.

[emmiedahl]

He had two years without a Republican majority to 'work with' and nothing good happened, except massive payouts to corporations, a health care mandate in the guise of help, and more spending on wars that are not making anyone's life better.

[GolightlyGrrl]

:clap:

This a million times over!!!!

But believe me a lot of this shit has been festering for over thirty years.

[3 is enough]

I just hope that, should he win a second term, Mr. Obama will stop trying so hard to "reach across the aisle." The GOP has never worked with him in good faith, and I think that it's particularly clear now, with an unbelievable default pending, that they never will. They seem to have no answers other than to say no to any taxes on the uber-wealthy or corporations and to do whatever they can to make the president look bad.

Oh yes. That's all they can do. I must admit that the crack in the party's facade, with some members refusing to bow to Boehner's wishes is making me very happy. How I would love to see that orange idiot fail to get re-elected.

[JenniferJuniper]

Oh yes. That's all they can do. I must admit that the crack in the party's facade, with some members refusing to bow to Boehner's wishes is making me very happy. How I would love to see that orange idiot fail to get re-elected.

Problem is, this is jeopardizing our entire economy.

The newly elected Teabaggers and like-minded right wing radicals in Congress will happily destroy this country just to take Obama down and gain more power for themselves.

And I'm as frustrated as anyone with Obama's attempts to work with these monkeys, but someone has to be the adult in the room.

[Black Aliss]

I did, even though he was far too conservative for my tastes and I didn't think he was ready for the presidency after just a single term as senator. He really let me down, though, when he built his administration around his old Harvard buddies, including Geithner, who helped to create this economic mess.

He let me down again when he didn't bring our troops home.

He let me down again when he gave us that pathetic little tax break as part of the stimulus package. Seriously, I did not need an extra $5.00 in my paycheck as much as the country needed repairs to the infrastructure and to the social safety net. The really wealthy needed another tax break even less.

I can't blame him for the watered down pathetic excuse for health care reform that we got. We have the spineless DINOs in the house and senate to blame for that.

His willingness to cave on virtually every demand put forth by the teabaggers has me really disappointed. However, if he is nominated in 2012, I'll vote for him again, but now he really is the lesser of two evils.

[amie]

..........

[deelaem]

I wonder if GoRiJa has gotten enough information about people's politics yet.

[emmiedahl]

What the #@%! has Obama done so far?

Yes, I have seen that site. Every single item on the list is money spent with no measurable improvement. The whole presidency comes down to: he has spent money and gotten no results. Great. Like fucking Bush and Clinton didn't do that as well. My life is significantly shittier than it was in 2008 despite hundreds of trillions of dollars spent and I don't think I am the only person in the US singing that tune.

[Soulhuntress]

I wonder if GoRiJa has gotten enough information about people's politics yet.

for what reason?

[PennySycamore]

Thanks for that link, amie. Sometimes we progressives fail to remember all the positive things that President Obama has done.

[deelaem]

for what reason?

I don't know, but if you follow the content of his threads, they mostly have an information-gathering feel to them. Triggers my troll paranoia.

[lovemyaspiekids]

My hubby and I have an ongoing discussion about whether the Tea Party will break away from the Republican Party and launch a potentially-viable 3rd party candidate.

I voted for Obama in 2008 and I will do the same next year. The alternatives scare the crap out of me and give me visions of 1984 and The Handmaiden's Tale.

[emmiedahl]

I don't know, but if you follow the content of his threads, they mostly have an information-gathering feel to them. Triggers my troll paranoia.

If so, all he will take away is that we are a very mixed group of people with a variety of political beliefs but a generally progressive outlook.

I have to wonder if this is the same guy: http://www.sodahead.com/user/profile/1376493/gojira/

[GoJiRa]

I wonder if GoRiJa has gotten enough information about people's politics yet.

I can tell everyone here leans to the left. I started the thread because I heard on the radio that many Dems are not happy with Obama. Very informative thread. I aint startin no shit!

[emmiedahl]

Everyone? That is a broad statement. If I lean to the left, it is only slightly and theoretically because I hate them all right now. We have Tea Party members here if I recall correctly.